Sheldon Place House

The house was an existing early 1980’s residence at the end of a cul-de-sac on the hill behind Hobart’s CBD. Infact, the house – prominent given its white colour – is one of the highest residences on the foothills when looking from the city up to Mt Wellington.

The site had a significant slope and the existing residence was built over 3 levels with a primary living level between lower level garage and guest bedroom and bedrooms and bathroom to an upper rear half-level.

Whilst the existing house was positioned to address the panoramic, ‘birds eye’ view on offer, the heavily framed front windows and very high ceiling levels internally – some spaces rising to in excess of 5 metres – we felt the full potential of the view, and the residences’ interior spatial arrangement as a reflection of the greater physical context, was open to greater enhancement in our new work.

Whilst a typical ‘alts and adds’, this project enabled further research in to issues being identified within other office projects such as the potency of a restrained formal object to respond to the power of the landscape which in turn reveals a complex interior – in this project through the increased vertical spatial order and repositioning the interior experience in a precise relationship with the broader landscape.